{"id":4268,"date":"2023-01-19T22:09:55","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T22:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/truehope.info\/wordpress\/?page_id=4268"},"modified":"2023-02-20T22:22:33","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T22:22:33","slug":"what-is-a-resource","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/truehope.info\/wordpress\/what-is-a-resource\/","title":{"rendered":"What is A Resource?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Phrases<\/a>
Phrases such as \u201cDepartment of Resources\u201d, \u201cMinister of Energy and Resources\u201d and \u201cEnergy Resources\u201d roll off our tongues as though we know what we are talking about. However how many of us could explain what \u201ca resource\u201d is to a child?<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“R.E.S.O.U.R.C.E. So Mummy, Daddy, come again. Repeat. Do me a reboot. Remind me. Help me remember. What really is a resource?
Imagine how you might respond if a child asked you what a resource is. Maybe you would glibly answer, \u201cOh, a resource is anything that is useful to us\u201d.
Or perhaps a series of words such as refresh, recover, replay, rehash, recook, reiterate, replace, refurbish, renew, recall, resurrect and replace might tend to recycle through your mind causing a few alarm bells to ring because all these words are associated with the act of coming back again. This realization makes answering more awkward and, for some reason, you might choke on a response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be comforted if alarm bells rang in you. It is a healthy sign if you choke on a glib reply because it is very possible our use of the word \u201cresource\u201d defines the future of mankind.
This suggestion may seem preposterous until you ask yourself the question, \u201cWhat on Earth has possessed so many governments to create Ministers and Ministries of Energy and Resources this past half century?\u201d Surely the notion of \u201cenergy and resources\u201d is exemplary nonsense? Doesn\u2019t it amount to the complete and utter denial of the Conservation of Energy Principle?
And isn\u2019t there a potent correlation between such denial and what some folk call the Anthropocene or the 6th Mass Extinction of Species?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Great Unasked Question<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Be kind to yourself if you have never thought to question the existence of an institution such as a Secretary or Minister of Energy, let alone a Minister of Energy and Resources. Extremely few people ever do and, of those, most accept a glib answer.
Most people assume such institutions have been with us forever and\/ or that some rarefied pantheon of god-like \u201cEnergy Experts\u201d created the institution. You might be surprised to learn how many of our highly-paid, super-educated \u201cEconomics\u201d and Constitutional Law professors blithely lecture and propound for years on end about Ministries of Energy and Resources without reflecting on what they are really saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illustration of emblems<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These learned, erudite people design and maintain faculties and departments of Energy<\/em>, of Energy Resources <\/em>and even of Energy And Resources.<\/em>
They teach and their students regurgitate back essays and publish research papers discussing Energy Commodity Resources, Distributed Energy Resources, Energy Resources Levy Acts, Resource Management Acts<\/em> and Natural Resources Economics.<\/em>
Some of their students graduate to write articles debating whether Eversource Energy<\/em> is a better stock market bet than NextEra Energy<\/em> (both are basically just suppliers of a narrow range of electrical products – mostly bulk-generated electrical products).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others become self-described \u201cEconomists\u201d, flit in jets around the planet to attend \u201cEnergy and Resource Law\u201d conferences and publish magazines such as The Resources and Energy Quarterly.
Some even become \u201cBusiness Editors\u201d and write headlines such as:
5 Biggest Natural Resources Companies in the World<\/em><\/strong>
Are the names on the top five of their list familiar?
No 5. NextEra Energy Inc<\/em>.
No 4. Royal Dutch Shell<\/em>
No 3. Chevron Corporation<\/em>
No 2. Exxon Mobil Corporation<\/em>
No 1. Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, all these giant, multinational \u201cResource<\/em>\u201d corporations have one thing in common: they all specialize in making fabulous profits for their small group of principal shareholders from the unfettered extraction and burning of Earth\u2019s mineral biomass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words Fail Us<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

You may be asking, \u201cWhat does unfetter mean?\u201d It\u2019s a good question in that no word can adequately describe the enormity of this vast combustion of Earth\u2019s biomass and mineral depletion plus the insane scale of the ingenuity, arrogance, greed and deceit underpinning the rationales for this behaviour plus the profundity of the denial of the principles of physics plus the terrible dangers of the delusion. Words fail to convey the enormity of each and all these aspects of behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The synonyms of \u201cunfettered\u201d all fail because they speak of being unshackled, unchained, freed and escaping. However no man (human being) can \u201cescape<\/em>\u201d the principles of physics. We can only live in accord with them or risk perishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Those governing this behaviour of gross waste and combustion, mainly White European peoples, may convince themselves they are free to use the atmosphere, the waters, the soils and the minerals of Earth as they please. In so doing, they entomb their lives in fear, division, delusion and despair. See, for instance, Douglas Rushkoffs article https:\/\/onezero.medium.com\/survival-of-the-richest-9ef6cddd0cc1<\/a>
They may convince many of us that we too are free to do as they do to Earth\u2019s bounty. These deceits become our language, legislation and laws, which shackle us and form chains we use for thrashing ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Formula for Extinction<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Those who have read my essays \u201c What is Energy?\u201d<\/a>, \u201cWhat is Power?\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/em> and \u201cWhat is a Fossil Fuel?<\/a>\u201d<\/strong><\/em> will now perhaps be familiar with this fatally-flawed, profoundly corrupting and globally pervasive equation:
Energy = Fossil Fuels = Power = Electricity = Bulk-generated Electrical Products.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This equation is the construct of an oligarchy of merchant bankers – the City of London in particular. Their Crown dialect of English now frames most global trade and we can see its ethos manifest in all the various forms of \u201cEnergy<\/em>\u201d institutions that now exist in almost every state on the planet.
There was no great announcement heralding an immense scientific advance nor any international philosophical discussion of wisdom of such momentous decision. The ego is far more subtle than that. \u201cEnergy Experts<\/em>” and \u201cEnergy Consultants<\/em>\u201d simple materialized out of the woodwork of Government and Central Media bureaucracies in the 1970s, whispered in the ears of politicians and editors that we needed to adapt to modern times and lo and behold: a few traces of ink later, the Departments of Mines (mineral)s and Departments of Electricity (Bulk-generated electrical products) were merged to become Departments or Ministries of Energy. Observe how the English use of the word \u201cministry\u201d<\/em> gives the the Office of “Energy<\/em>” full ecclesiastical pomp, might and majesty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within a couple of decades the word \u201cResource<\/em>\u201d began appearing alongside the word \u201cEnergy<\/em>\u201d on Government letter heads and marble plaques by the same quiet process of metamorphosis. Suddenly it is as though this use of the words has been here for eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why might this be a formula for extinction?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The merchant-bankers\u2019 \u201cEnergy\u201d equation is fatally flawed in that every element of the equation exists in complete denial of the Conservation of Energy Principle – perhaps our greatest and wisest guide to how the universe acts. This principle of physics advises us that humans can neither create nor destroy nor conserve energy and that energy is the ultimate constant even as it continuously transforms all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their \u201cEnergy\u201d<\/em> equation is profoundly corrupting in that it destroys true hope of physics and vital meaning. In particular, it destroys the sustaining meaning of words, including that of the word \u201cresource<\/em>\u201d. As we have seen, the Crown dialect of English confuses and conflates the words “energy<\/em>” and “resources<\/em>” in corrupt ways. Worse, it also frames “energy<\/em>” and “resources<\/em>” as complements of each other, thereby destroying the sustaining meaning of “energy<\/em>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their \u201cEnergy<\/em>\u201d equation is now globally pervasive in that it underpins the global language of commerce, which is arguably the principal driver of the 6th Mass Extinction.* https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Holocene_extinction<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Composite screenshot (18 Jan 2023) of the Wiki page on \u201cMinistry of Energy\u201d<\/a>. It is not a complete list.
About 2011, when the mankind numbered about 7 billion, I gave a couple of days to scouring the Internet best I could for any Government reference to \u201cenergy\u201d. I discovered even the officialese of so-called \u201cisolated societies\u201d such as North Korea employed this language. My rough tally then was that at least 6.3 of the 7 billion human beings were being governed to some degree by this fatally flawed energy equation.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s With the Notion of “Energy And Resource<\/em>s<\/strong>“?<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The observant reader will have observed the common juxtaposition of “energy<\/em>” and “resource<\/em>” in this snapshot of the apex of government institutions. A wider search that includes other social institutions (Government departments, local councils, NGOs, schools and universities, private corporations, main media etc) indicates this conflation and confusion of \u201cresource\u201d is now prevalent throughout societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all this in mind, you perhaps agree it is wise to now reflect more deeply on the question \u201cWhat is a resource?\u201d
The reflective method I am using in this series of essays involves a quick journey back a few millennia to our Proto-Indo-European roots via https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/ <\/a>and observing how the meaning of a word has changed over the centuries.
Typically changes in culture correlates with changes in language. So we then map the evolution of meaning in a crude way with the known behaviour during periods of history. We then attempt to evaluate the sustainability of our use of a word by rating how much its mean is in accord with the Conservation of Energy Principle, this being our ultimate measure of sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Framework<\/a>
Framework illustrating how to use the principles of physics as wise guide when speaking the word \u201ceconomy\u201d.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The table illustrates how the meaning of \u201cresource\u201d changes in profound ways coinciding with the rapid expansion of the English Empire and the associated English Combustion Revolution (aka the English Industrial Revolution). Its essential meaning of an active capacity of \u201ccoming back again<\/em>\u201d and \u201crising again<\/em>\u201d vanishes. This capacity or property of some thing to recycle itself is replaced with the capacity or property of something to act as a source of wealth – the Crown in particular.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incredible Tricks and Deceits of the Ego.<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Our lives can be understood as a relative balance of two forces of the psyche: the ego (the \u201cI\u201d element) and compassion (the \u201cus\u201d element). Both arise simultaneously in any moment of our self-awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NZ Sign language “I” \"\" \"\"<\/a>Sign “Us”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human ego arises in our psyche in our moments of the division of our consciousness into self-awareness. Born of division, it is exclusive of nature and ever in denial of the Conservation of Energy Principle with its inconvenient reminders of our mortal and moral natures. The ego has us abhor the notion that all forms are exquisite, finite balances of forces amidst the universal flux. It has us shun our roles as stewards of the flows and balances that sustain us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compassion, which arises with the ego, is inclusive of nature and enables us to embrace the reality of the Conservation of Energy Principle and live in accord with its wisdom.
We exist as a dynamic interaction of these two complementary forces and imbalances constantly occur between them. If we lack sufficient of the complementary, inclusive force of compassion, the ego can easily dominate our psyche and cause our language~behaviour to become unsustainable and ultimately self-destructive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This phenomenon is discussed in the essay \u201cWhat is a Fossil Fuel?<\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u201d where we saw how the Crown merchant bankers in the early 1800s began describing fossilized biomass as \u201cfossil fuel\u201d i.e. declaring coal and mineral oil~gas exist for them to burn. This coincided with the vast escalation of the English Combustion Revolution and unparalleled global expansion of the English Empire (now the Anglosphere Empire).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The essay discussed a few perhaps inconvenient truths such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n